Yorkshire holiday guide: the Dales, North York Moors, Whitby & where to stay

T By Thomas · Updated 20 October 2026 · 3 min read

Airports

Leeds Bradford (LBA), Manchester (MAN)

Best time to go

May-September; August for heather on the moors

Type

Region

Yorkshire is big enough to fill several holidays. The limestone dales of the west have waterfalls, drystone walls and stone barns; the North York Moors in the east turn purple with heather in late summer and fall away to a coast of cliffs and fishing towns. In between are historic cities such as York, lively Leeds and spa town Harrogate, plus grand houses and ruined abbeys.

For more ideas, see our United Kingdom guide.

Where to stay

• York – a compact medieval city with good rail links, ideal for touring without a car.
• The Yorkshire Dales – Grassington, Hawes, Settle and Reeth for walking, pubs and scenery.
• Harrogate – an elegant spa town with Bettys tea rooms and the RHS Harlow Carr garden, close to the Dales.
• Whitby – a harbour town with abbey ruins, fish and chips and Dracula connections.
• Robin Hood's Bay – a tumbling fishing village of steep lanes on the coast.
• Helmsley and Pickering – market towns on the southern edge of the North York Moors.
• Leeds – a city of shopping, food, nightlife and the Royal Armouries museum.

Things to do

1. Malham Cove – a giant limestone cliff with a limestone pavement on top, plus Gordale Scar and Janet's Foss nearby.
2. Whitby Abbey – dramatic clifftop ruins reached by 199 steps from the old town.
3. Settle-Carlisle Railway – a scenic line crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct.
4. North Yorkshire Moors Railway – steam trains between Pickering and Whitby, via Goathland.
5. Castle Howard – a stately home with vast grounds, near Malton.
6. Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal – UNESCO-listed abbey ruins and water gardens near Ripon.
7. Haworth – the hill village home of the Brontë sisters, with the Brontë Parsonage Museum.
8. The Yorkshire Three Peaks – Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, a tough one-day challenge.

Best time to visit

Late spring to early autumn is best for walking and the coast. Heather on the North York Moors usually blooms from about mid-August to early September. July and August are busiest at Whitby, Robin Hood's Bay and the Dales honeypots. Winter can bring snow to the high ground and many smaller attractions keep shorter hours, but York's Christmas markets are popular in December.

Getting there

LNER and Grand Central trains run from London King's Cross to York in under two hours, and to Leeds in about 2h15; Grand Central and Lumo can be cheaper. TransPennine Express links Manchester with Leeds in about an hour and York in about 1h20, and CrossCountry runs direct from Birmingham to Leeds and York. By car, Leeds is around three to four hours from London via the M1, and about an hour from Manchester via the M62, though the M62 is often congested.

Getting around

A car gives you the most freedom in the Dales and moors, where buses can be infrequent, particularly in winter. Trains run from Leeds to Skipton and Settle, from York to Scarborough, and from Middlesbrough to Whitby on the scenic Esk Valley line. The Moorsbus and DalesBus networks run on some weekends and in summer. Cycling is popular, though Yorkshire roads are often steep.

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